Amazon FBA Reimbursement Services Compared

ByGulfam Haidar

Amazon FBA reimbursement services check your stock and fee data for money Amazon owes you. They file claims for lost, damaged or overcharged units, then keep a share of what comes back. Most charge 15% to 25%. Since 23 October 2024, most US claims must be filed within 60 days. Since 31 March 2025, Amazon pays for lost units at your cost to make them, not at the sale price.

Key facts

  • 60 days: the window for most US claims since 23 October 2024. It used to be up to 18 months.
  • 1 November 2024: Amazon began paying some US claim types automatically.
  • 31 March 2025: lost and damaged units are now paid at manufacturing cost, not sale price (Amazon Seller Forums).
  • 15% to 25%: the usual fee range. Seller Investigators lists 25%. Helium 10 lists 15% or 18% by plan.
  • 30 June 2026: SPS Commerce agreed to sell its 3P revenue recovery business, the old Carbon6 seller side (SPS Commerce).

A service is only as good as the rules it works under. Those rules changed twice in six months, so we start there. If you want the step-by-step claim process instead, read our guide to filing FBA reimbursement claims. This page covers which service to pick, what it costs, and whether you need one at all.

What changed: 60-day windows and manufacturing cost

Two changes shape every service today. You now have about 60 days to file most claims, and Amazon pays lost units at your cost to make them.

First, the window. On 23 October 2024, most US claim windows dropped to 60 days, down from up to 18 months. On 1 November 2024, Amazon began to process some claim types on its own. The UK followed with the same two changes in January 2025.

Amazon keeps its full policy behind the Seller Central login. The windows below come from two secondary sources, not from Amazon directly. Check them against the FBA reimbursement policy page in your own account before you rely on them.

Claim type Window to file (US) Source
Lost or damaged in a fulfillment center 60 days from the date Amazon reported the item eComEngine (secondary)
Removal orders 15 to 75 days from shipment creation eComEngine (secondary)
Customer returns 60 to 120 days SPS Commerce (secondary)
Customer returns (UK) 45 to 105 days SPS Commerce (secondary)
Most claims before 23 Oct 2024 Up to 18 months eComEngine (secondary)

Second, the payout. Amazon said it would pay “based on the manufacturing cost of lost or damaged inventory” instead of the selling price. The start date moved from 10 March 2025 to 31 March 2025 (Amazon Seller Forums).

Manufacturing cost means what you paid to make the item. It leaves out shipping, duties and similar costs, according to eComEngine. Items lost or damaged after a customer buys them are still paid at the sale price, minus fees.

What a reimbursement audit checks

With those rules in mind, here is what a good service actually looks for in your account. A reimbursement audit compares what Amazon received, stored, sold and returned against what it paid you.

The usual checks are:

  • Lost or damaged in the warehouse. Units that vanish or break inside a fulfillment center (FC), Amazon’s warehouse.
  • Inbound shortages. You sent 500 units, and Amazon logged 480.
  • Removal orders. You asked Amazon to send stock back or dispose of it, and some units never showed up.
  • Refunds with no return. Amazon refunded the buyer, but the item never came back to stock.
  • Fee overcharges. Amazon measured your item as bigger or heavier than it is, so you paid a higher FBA fee. Our Amazon seller fees guide shows how those fees are set.

Some of these now get paid on their own. Removal and return cases often still need a manual claim, which is where a service or a monthly habit earns its keep.

FBA reimbursement services compared: fee, free tier, owner

No single service wins on every point. The main differences are the fee, whether you get a free trial amount, and who owns the company today.

We have not run a paid test of each service. The table uses each vendor’s own page where it publishes a rate. Where it does not, we say so and name the third-party source.

Service Fee Free tier Owner Notes
GETIDA 25% (third-party figure, RevenueGeeks) First $400 free (third-party figure) Independent (VERIFY) Homepage shows no rate. It claims “90% of claims we open secured.”
Seller Investigators 25% commission Free audit in 48 hours Site says “part of the Carbon6 ecosystem” Ask who owns it after the June 2026 SPS sale.
Refunds Manager Rate not published “No Recovery, No Fee” Not stated in our sources Claims $75k to $300k average yearly recovery (vendor claim).
Helium 10 Managed Refund Service 15% (Diamond plan), 18% (Platinum plan) Needs a paid Helium 10 plan Helium 10 Page still says it “audits 18 months.”
Sellerboard No commission Included in the subscription Sellerboard Third-party figure (RevenueGeeks). A tool you run, not a done-for-you service.

Sources: Seller Investigators, Refunds Manager, Helium 10, RevenueGeeks on GETIDA pricing.

A lower rate is not always cheaper. Helium 10’s 15% needs a Diamond plan, and Sellerboard charges no commission, but you do the filing. Weigh the plan cost and your own time against the fee.

What a 25% fee really costs you now

The fee stayed at 25% for many services, but the payout it applies to got much smaller. So the fee in dollars fell, and so did the amount you keep.

Take one item that sells for $20 and costs $5 to make. Amazon loses it in the warehouse.

Before 31 March 2025: the payout was tied to the selling price. To keep the math simple, call it $20. A 25% fee took $5, and you kept $15.

After 31 March 2025: Amazon pays about $5, your cost to make it. A 25% fee takes $1.25, and you keep $3.75.

Now scale it. Say a monthly reimbursement audit finds 40 lost units.

Scenario Payout per unit Monthly payout 25% fee 15% fee You keep (25%)
Before 31 Mar 2025 $20 (simplified) $800 $200 $120 $600
After 31 Mar 2025 $5 $200 $50 $30 $150
Do it yourself $5 $200 $0 $0 $200, minus your time

At $50 a month, the service fee is small, so the real question is whether 30 minutes of your time is worth $50. For many small sellers it is not, and a service makes sense. For a seller with a VA or an ops person already in Seller Central, it often is.

Be careful with “18-month lookback” promises

That smaller payout is one reason to question big recovery pitches. The other is time. An “18-month lookback” describes a rule that ended on 23 October 2024.

A service can still read 18 months of data, and that helps it spot patterns, such as a warehouse that keeps losing one SKU. But for most claim types, it cannot file for events older than about 60 days. Customer returns stretch to 120 days at most.

Some pages still use the old number. A February 2026 listicle from goaura still quotes an 18-month window. Helium 10’s refund page still says it “audits 18 months” of data. That wording may describe how far back it reads your data, not how far back it can claim. Ask the vendor which one it means before you sign.

Any sales call that promises a large one-time back payment from 18 months ago is working from the old rules. Ask them to show which claims are still inside the window.

Ownership changes and your data

The vendor you sign with today may not be the vendor you have next year. Two deals in 2025 and 2026 show why that matters for your contract and your data.

SPS Commerce agreed to buy Carbon6 on 2 January 2025 for $210 million and closed the deal on 7 February 2025. Carbon6 owned several seller tools, including reimbursement services. Its blog now redirects to SPS Commerce.

On 30 June 2026, SPS agreed to sell its 3P revenue recovery business for $9.5 million in cash, per its investor release. “3P” means third-party sellers like you, as opposed to 1P vendors who sell to Amazon. SPS kept the 1P side. It expects a loss of about $20 million on the sale, and it did not name the buyer.

Seller Investigators’ site still says it is “part of the Carbon6 ecosystem” today. We do not know if it moved with the 3P sale, so ask the vendor directly.

Before you sign with any service, check these points:

  • Who holds your data? Ask where your reports and claim history live, and who can see them after a sale.
  • Exit terms. Can you cancel any month? Do you still owe fees on claims filed before you left?
  • API access. Services connect through Amazon’s Selling Partner API. You can see and remove that access in Seller Central under Apps and Services, then Manage Your Apps.
  • Claim records. Ask for an export of every case ID and payout. You need it if Amazon reverses a payment later.

Do it yourself: a 30-minute monthly audit

You can run the core checks yourself once a month. With 60-day windows, a monthly habit catches most claims before they expire.

Pull these four reports from Seller Central:

  1. Reimbursements report. Shows every payout Amazon made, with the reason and amount. Start here so you do not file twice.
  2. Inventory Ledger. Tracks each unit in and out of every warehouse. Look for units marked lost or damaged with no matching payout.
  3. FBA customer returns report. Match refunds to returns. Flag any refund older than 45 days with no returned unit.
  4. Removal order detail report. Compare units requested against units shipped and received. Flag any gap.

Then follow these steps:

  1. Put each report in its own tab of one shared spreadsheet.
  2. Match lost and damaged units in the Inventory Ledger against the Reimbursements report by SKU and date.
  3. List anything unpaid that is still inside its window.
  4. File the rest, oldest first, so none expire.
  5. Check the fee on your top 10 SKUs against their real size and weight.

Our FBA reimbursement guide walks through each claim form. Good stock control also cuts the losses in the first place. Our Amazon inventory management guide covers that side.

Manage Your Sourcing Cost: the biggest lever on payout size

Your audit finds the claims, and your sourcing cost decides how much each one pays. Since 31 March 2025, the cost on file is the number Amazon pays for most lost or damaged units.

Manage Your Sourcing Cost is a Seller Central page where you enter what each item costs you to make. Amazon asked sellers to submit costs there by 28 February 2025 (Amazon Seller Forums).

If the cost on file is too low, every payout is too low, and no service can fix that after the fact.

Keep it current:

  • Update the cost when your supplier raises prices.
  • Enter the cost to make the item only. Shipping and duties do not count.
  • Keep supplier invoices on file in case Amazon asks for proof.
  • Review new SKUs the week they go live.

We check this page in every account we manage, because it is the fastest fix we know for low payouts.

When you do not need a paid service

The math above points to a simple test. If your likely monthly payout is small, a service adds little, and a monthly check does the job.

You probably do not need a paid service if:

  • Your catalog is small. A few SKUs with low FBA volume make a monthly check quick.
  • Automatic payouts cover most cases. Your Reimbursements report already shows most lost units paid without a claim.
  • Your costs to make are low. At $2 or $3 a unit, even a 15% fee buys little.
  • Someone already works in Seller Central weekly. A VA can add the four reports to their routine.

A paid reimbursement audit makes more sense with many SKUs, heavy inbound volume, or frequent removals. It also helps if nobody on your team has time each month. Where this advice could be wrong: if Amazon changes its windows or payout rules again, rerun the math.

If you want one team to handle claims along with stock, fees and ads, see our Amazon account management service. The audit before we start is free, and there is no setup fee.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file an FBA reimbursement claim?

For most US claims, you have 60 days. That rule began on 23 October 2024. Removal claims run 15 to 75 days from shipment creation. Customer return claims run 60 to 120 days. These figures come from secondary sources, so confirm them on the policy page in your Seller Central account.

Does Amazon reimburse lost inventory automatically?

Yes, for some claim types. Amazon began automatic processing in the US on 1 November 2024 and in the UK on 15 January 2025. It does not catch every case. Removal and return gaps often still need a manual claim, so check your Reimbursements report each month.

Does Amazon reimburse at sale price or cost?

Amazon pays at manufacturing cost for most lost or damaged FBA units since 31 March 2025. That is what you paid to make the item, without shipping or duties. Units lost or damaged after a customer buys them are still paid at the sale price, minus fees.

Are reimbursement services worth 25%?

It depends on your volume and your time. Since payouts moved to your cost to make, a 25% fee on 40 lost $5 units is $50 a month. If 30 minutes of your time is worth more, pay the fee. If not, run the checks yourself.

What is the best Amazon reimbursement service?

There is no single best choice. Seller Investigators lists 25%. Helium 10 lists 15% or 18% on its top plans. Sellerboard includes a tool in its subscription. Pick on fee, contract exit terms, data access and current owner, not on promised recovery totals.

Is GETIDA legit?

GETIDA is a long-running reimbursement service with a public website and guides. Its homepage says it secures 90% of the claims it opens, which is its own claim. It does not publish its rate. Ask for the fee and contract terms in writing before you connect your account.

Can I file reimbursement claims myself?

Yes. Any seller can file claims in Seller Central at no cost, and a monthly routine with four reports finds most missed payouts. Our step-by-step claim guide shows each claim form and the evidence Amazon asks for, so you can file within the window.

What is the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page?

It is a Seller Central page where you enter what each item costs you to make. Since 31 March 2025, Amazon uses that figure to pay most lost or damaged units. Keep it current, since a low cost on file means a low payout.

Which reports show missing reimbursements?

Four reports cover most gaps. The Reimbursements report shows what Amazon paid. The Inventory Ledger shows units lost or damaged. The FBA customer returns report shows refunds with no return. The Removal order detail report shows units that never came back to you.

Can Amazon take back a reimbursement?

Yes. Amazon can reverse a payout, for example when a unit it paid for is later found and returned to your stock. The reversal shows in your Reimbursements report. Keep a record of each case ID and payout so you can spot reversals and question any that look wrong.

Sources

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